2013 CMA Awards Hosts Look Ahead

As the countdown to the 47th annual CMA Awards
nears its end, everyone involved is making final preparations to ensure the night goes off without a hitch. Rehearsals for the show began Sunday (Nov. 3) in Nashville and continued through the day Wednesday with some of the biggest acts in the industry putting finishing touches on what are sure to be show stopping performances.

Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are two of those performers, but they’ll also take the stage as co-hosts for the sixth year. Paisley says every detail is planned months in advance.

“We really work hard to make sure the monologue is something you remember,” Paisley said. “There are moments that in three years when you look back and watch this monologue, you say, ‘That had to be 2013 because this was happening or that.’ And in that sense, we try to make it very entertaining. There’s no second of the show that’s not well thought out.”

“The show itself is going to be pretty awesome,” Underwood added. “We have the privilege of knowing who’s going to be performing before everybody else and who’s presenting and things like that, and it’s a lot of awesome talent and collaborations that are going to be happening.”

While fans will have to wait until Wednesday to see Paisley and Underwood’s highly anticipated opening conversation, the wait is over for the first round of CMA winners.

Announcements were made Wednesday morning giving Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban an early lead as their collaboration on “Highway Don’t Care”
won awards for music video and musical event of the year. Swift will also accept a rare honor on the show — the Pinnacle Award, created in 2005 and given to only one other artist, Garth Brooks.